Cable drives German broadband uptake

German cable operators will add 700,000 new broadband subscribers during the year. About 40% of all new broadband homes connect via cable, according to the the Association of German Cable Operators (ANGA).

With an average growth of 58,000 new broadband homes, cable will reach 3 million customers before the end of the year.

These figures are mainly due to the introduction of DOCSIS 3.0 technology. Thomas Braun, president of ANGA, said in a statement: “With its advanced HFC broadband networks, a combination of glass fibre and coaxial cable, cable operators in Germany provide the conditions for access to bandwidth-intensive applications. DOCSIS 3.0 allows Internet speeds of up to 100 Mbps. The upgrade of the networks will be completed on most cable operators in 2012, individual operators have achieved that goal already today.”

“With DOCSIS 3.0, it will be possible to reach two thirds of German households with bandwidths up to 100 Mbps via cable. We make a significant contribution to the broadband objectives of the Federal Government, which is to reach 75% of all households by the end of 2014 with broadband access of at least 50 Mbps. In addition, over one million homes in formerly “white spots” are now to benefit from fast broadband speeds [thanks to cable]. An exclusive focus of broadband policy to pure fibre networks is not necessary nor economically efficient.”